In the prior art, the use of activated carbon or charcoal on hunting clothes or other hunting-related apparel for masking the scent of a hunter is known. U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,930 to Sesselmann discloses such an application. This patent incorporates activated charcoal as part of a hunter's clothing to absorb human odors and prevent such odors from signaling wild game of the presence of humans.
Activated charcoal and zeolites are also used in compositions for controlling malodors on human skin as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,874,067 to Lucas et al. In this patent, the composition may optionally contain hydrophobic antimicrobials, zinc salts, activated carbon, etc. U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,144 to Peterson et al. discloses a moisture and odor absorbing powder composition, which may contain additional odor controlling agents such as zeolites, activated charcoal, sodium bicarbonate, antimicrobial agents, and antiperspirants. Both of these patents are primarily directed to the use of cyclodextrins for odor control, and are not concerned with odor elimination in the field of hunting. In fact, cyclodextrin has a number of attributes that make it undesirable for hunting, e.g., stickiness, attraction to hydrocarbons, including perfumes, and the like, and its use would not be contemplated in a hunting product that is intended to be odor free.
Spray products containing activated carbon for use in hunting are known. Robinson Laboratories of Cannon Falls of Minnesota manufactures such a product. A similar product was made by Johnson Laboratories of Troy, Ala. Typically, these spray products may contain other known scent eliminators in the spray as well as the activated carbon. The Johnson product is described in patent application Ser. No. 09/574,208 filed on May 19, 2000, and this patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Activated carbon spray products, while being effective for odor elimination, are disadvantageous due to their smutting characteristic. Because of the dark or black nature of the carbon, whether as carbon or charcoal, applying the powder in a spray to a particular surface can give the surface a dark hue, which may also be unpleasant depending on the type of surface. For instance, when applied to hunter's clothes that have a camouflage pattern, the smutting is not objectionable since the dark hue is masked by the camouflage pattern. In other instances, the smutting presents an undesirable look, and improvements are still needed in this area. In fact,
However, a need still exists to further mask human odors during hunting. In response to this need, the present invention utilizes effective amounts of activated carbon to eliminate odors, particularly odors from humans as part of a hunting regimen.
Another problem facing hunters is the generation of odors via perspiration and the like caused by extended periods of sitting in a tree stand or other hunting structure. While there are many types of cushions available for this purpose, none are specifically designed for odor elimination and comfort. The invention solves this problem by combining such a cushion with a fabric that contains activated carbon for odor elimination. The fabric is situated at least on a face of the seat, which receives the hunter's body so that perspiration or other odors emanating from the hunter can be adsorbed by the activated carbon in the fabric.
Activated carbon containing fabric for hunting apparel and other items is known, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,383,236 5,539,930, 5,790,987, and 6,009,559 to Sesselmann, and these patents are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. However, these patents do not teach the use of such a fabric on a seat cushion that supports a hunter.